Raising the debt ceiling does not increase the national debt, but congressional wrangling over it does

Pat Cunningham

Friday

Sep 27, 2013 at 6:21 PM

HERE are a few facts some folks seem not to understand:

Raising the debt ceiling does not raise the national debt, but fighting over it does. The perverse outcome of the GOPís 2011 fight over the ceiling was a nearly $19 billion increase in costs to taxpayers over the coming years due to increased borrowing costs stemming from the credit downgrade. Over the 50 years prior to 2011, the cap on borrowing had been raised nearly 80 separate times as necessary to allow the government to continue paying its debts. Nineteen of those hikes came with George W. Bush in ...

Read more

HERE are a few facts some folks seem not to understand:

Raising the debt ceiling does not raise the national debt, but fighting over it does. The perverse outcome of the GOPís 2011 fight over the ceiling was a nearly $19 billion increase in costs to taxpayers over the coming years due to increased borrowing costs stemming from the credit downgrade. Over the 50 years prior to 2011, the cap on borrowing had been raised nearly 80 separate times as necessary to allow the government to continue paying its debts. Nineteen of those hikes came with George W. Bush in ...

Read more

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.